Teaching sales, marketing and customer service with humor and enthusiasm

How We Make Purchasing Decisions

The decision to purchase products is not a one-step decision. These steps include accessing the emotional, intellectual and social triggers that are a part of the process.

In the course of my research, I have discovered that the buyer goes through five different stages before they come to a buying decision. Over the course of the next few weeks I am going to explore these stages in my weekly blogs.

These five stages, according to smallbusiness.yahoo.com and other websites, are:

Problem Recognition

Search Process

Evaluating Alternatives

Selection

Evaluation of Decision

In this week’s blog we are going to look at Problem Recognition, or discovering the needs, wants and desires to purchase wine.

Problem Recognition

What might that problem be? That is, why do your customers need, want or desire to purchase wine? What is their motivation? Part of problem recognition is finding out whether there is a need behind the need. Your customer may tell you that they are just looking but there may be another reason for buying wine. They are looking for wine for a wedding or are throwing a dinner party that is important to them and want to make sure that they have a perfect wine to match their dinner.

It may be that they just feel like they are missing out because they don’t know much about wine and want to gain more knowledge.

Give some thought to when your customers or target audience develops these needs, wants and desires so you can advertise to them. For example if your business is in an area where the local university has a strong MBA program, this is an audience to reach, as knowing about wine and how to order wine at a restaurant may be valuable in their career.

Ask your staff why the customers buy wine and if they don’t know, include into the presentation for customers some questions that will help you find out what is motivating them.

Think, too, about how you make purchasing decisions – after all you too are a consumer.